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 By: Myron Mielke
Despite the rumors that he was behind in his training and had torn his tricep, Ronnie Coleman stepped on the 2006 Mr. Olympia stage in the kind of shape that had the crowd roaring with approval.
By the smile on his face it was evident that Ronnie was ready to garner another Mr. Olympia title. Based on the callouts from the judges, it would become evident that the real battle would be for second through fifth place.
  Click Image To Enlarge. Ronnie Was Ready For Another Win. View More Pics From The 2006 Olympia Pre-Judging Here.
The show began with the customary introductions. Each competitor took the stage individually and hit the eight compulsory poses. Victor Martinez was competitor number one and straight off he showed improvement from last year and showed off a crisp and dry physique.
As the athletes filed on the posing stage one by one, it was evident that the judges would have their work cut out for them. Jackson, Anthony, Cutler, Martinez, Freeman, Warren and Ruhl were getting the crowd's approval from the great conditioning they all exhibited.
Click Image To Enlarge. Jackson, Anthony, Cutler, Martinez, Freeman, Warren and Ruhl View More Pics From The 2006 Olympia Pre-Judging Here.
The first callout included Victor Martinez, Dexter Jackson, Jay Cutler and Ronnie Coleman. Standing side by side, it was evident that Ronnie was again his dominant self with amazing muscularity and exhibiting his trademark vascularity.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Dexter Jackson, Jay Cutler & Ronnie Coleman. View More Pics From The 2006 Olympia Pre-Judging Here. Ronnie showed weakness in his side tricep pose as he has in the past, but Ronnie was dominant in most of the other poses. Dexter "The Blade" Jackson was shredded as he usually is and Martinez looked like he learned how to "dial in" this year.
Click Image To Enlarge. Ronnie's Tri. Dexter Is Shredded. Victor Is Dialed In. View More Pics From The 2006 Olympia Pre-Judging Here. Cutler looked big, but when he turned around he didn't look as sharp as he did last year. His back looked a little thicker, especially in the lower lats, but the detail wasn't quite there.
Click Image To Enlarge. Cutler's Back Was Looking Thick. View More Pics From The 2006 Olympia Pre-Judging Here. I thought Jay's coloring was too dark this year as it made it difficult to see his definition. The light absorbed into him instead of reflecting off with a nice, subtle shine.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Perhaps A Bit Too Dark. View More Pics From The 2006 Olympia Pre-Judging Here.
The next callout was Melvin Anthony, Gustavo Badell, Toney Freeman and Branch Warren. Melvin was in good shape and looked like he might pull off a fifth-place finish.
Gustavo seemed a little flat, especially in the chest. He was fuller last year. Branch was Branch. He reminds me of a bulldog up there fighting with the others and he's not about to back down. He brought in some crazy conditioning.
Click Image To Enlarge. Gustavo Was Flat. Branch Was Branch. View More Pics From The 2006 Olympia Pre-Judging Here. It was refreshing seeing Toney Freeman mixing it up with the big boys this year. Of course, standing six feet, two inches, and weighing 280 pounds, Toney is a big boy himself.
Vince Taylor was in the next callout along with Dennis James, Markus Ruhl and Gunter Schlierkamp. Despite being 50 years old, Taylor looked great. His chest was a little flat, but that's a weakness he's struggled with his entire career, which has been a long one at that.
Ruhl looked absolutely massive. His shoulders were the widest of all the competitors and he dwarfed everyone he stood beside. He made Gunter look thin! James, who looked like the next Mr. Olympia in the 3-days-out photos posted on web sites, didn't quite hit it this year either.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Ruhl Was Massive. James Didn't Quite Hit It. View More Pics From The 2006 Olympia Pre-Judging Here. Gunter seemed to fade rather quickly this year and didn't receive the attention he has had in prior Olympias. He looked better last year too.
 Click Image To Enlarge. Gunter Didn't Get Much Attention. View More Pics From The 2006 Olympia Pre-Judging Here.
Dexter Jakson, Melvin Anthony, Gustavo Badell and Toney Freeman made the next callout and Branch Warren, Dennis James, Markus Ruhl and Johnny Jackson were in the callout following.
Ruhl started to look tired in this callout and it appeared he might have had some trouble with cramping.
Despite winning last week's Grand Prix in Spain, Paco Batista didn't make it until the next callout. He displayed unbelievable conditioning, but he couldn't hold up to the shape, proportion and size of many of the competitors.
Darrem Charles, David Henry and Troy Alves joined Paco in this callout. Alves looked good and even had a couple striations showing in his glutes. Henry displayed amazing detail in his back. Charles looked like he always does.
One of the complaints from last year's show was that the competitors didn't get enough comparisons with various athletes. That was solved this year as many athletes were placed against each other in various callouts.
 Click Image To Enlarge. There Were Many Comparisons This Year. View More Pics From The 2006 Olympia Pre-Judging Here.
The last callout had Dennis Wolf, Ronnie Rockel, Rodney St. Cloud, Bill Willmore, and Mustafa Mohamed in it. Mustafa came in too smooth. Rockel looked better than last year and fixed his coloring problem. (No more Dream Tan for him.) Wolf, St. Cloud and Willmore were making their Olympia debuts.
The final callout of the night might have revealed the top five as it showcased Anthony, Jackson, Martinez, Cutler and Coleman. Coleman most likely had first place, but the other places might still be up for grabs.
As I was leaving the arena, Melvin Anthony was outside talking with some friends. He was pleased with his callouts and was hoping for a good placing. I commented that his coloring was good and he said, "That was all Jan Tana. I don't let anybody else touch me!"
Anthony said he weighed in at 238.6 pounds, which was heavier than last year when he weighed 229 for the Olympia. He got up to 276 in the offseason this year and stayed relatively lean. I asked how long he dieted for the show and his reply was, "12 weeks and not one day more! I'm ready to eat - everything!"
 Click Image To Enlarge. Hungry, Hungry Anthony. View More Pics From The 2006 Olympia Pre-Judging Here. That's probably what most of the competitors were thinking. It'll all be over Saturday night when the results are revealed at the finals show and then after that it's time to eat, drink and be merry for next year they'll do it all over again.
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